Looking back to 2013...Looking forward to 2014

Happy New year to y'all.

I hope your holiday season was everything you hoped it would be, despite the fact that it rarely is and that the traditional January letdown is a bit disconcerting considering the intense cold, darkness and the inevitable dread of the December credit card bill coming due.

Here in Montreal, thoughts of global warming could not be farther from mind as a particularly intense cold snap has those of us who have not escaped to sunnier climes, fearfully restricted to the safety of our over-heated homes, while those in Toronto, still reeling after the nastiest, costliest and most bothersome ice storm to ever hit that city, reminded as well, that Mother Nature still rules.

There's little doubt that this last year was a humbling affair for Quebecers as the stench of pervasive and entrenched corruption reached into almost every domain and aspect of society, where even the manufactured issue of those so-called 'Quebec Values' could not displace the ubiquitous and over-powering issue of corruption as dominant news story of 2013.

From crooked mayors to crooked city halls and from corrupt police in high places to a business and professional community exposed as cheap crooks in bespoke attire, bereft of morals, integrity and decency.
Where the largest and most prestigious corporations of Quebec were exposed as two-bit bribers and where dubious and shamefully illegal practices were exposed as de rigueur or standard operating procedures and where collusion, corruption and banditry were more the practice than the exception.

The open sore that was the Charbonneau Commission laid bare the depth of that depravity which made Quebec look no better than a corrupt third world banana republic.

Years ago I travelled to Mexico on business and hired a driver to ferry our group around town, a bit frightened to rent a car  myself in fearful consideration of the lawlessness that gripped the country.
I cannot tell you of my surprise at the audacity of a certain member of the Policía Federal who demanded from our driver a small fee in order to park our car in an open spot by the curb in 'his' protected street over which he seemed to hold dominion.
I remember thinking to myself how uncivilized the brazen and open corruption was, only to realize now that it was a foolish assumption that we here in Quebec had evolved as a society beyond such dubious practices.
I reflected back to that naive assumption this year, as I took in the news that the three of the former highest members of the Sureté du Quebec (provincial police) were being investigated for dipping into a secret slush fund (used to pay informers) for their own benefit. Add to that, two highly placed moles were exposed, one on active duty in the Montreal police, the other an ex cop, who is accused of selling information to the Hell's Angels and pocketing up to $500,000 in payoffs. The first killed himself in a Laval motel in light of his arrest, a scenario right out of a cheap crime movie.

Nope, it's hard to write up 2013 as a banner year for Quebec, no matter how you slice it, but for the self-delusional, Quebec's problem's can be described away as nothing too spectacular, the problems overblown and over-stated by federalists, eager to tarnish and sully the hitherto shiny reputation of Quebec's distinct society.

And so for these 'optimists', the Charbonneau commission isn't an embarrassment, it is a heroic effort by Quebecers to come to grips with corruption, something no other province has the courage to do.

It is a province that despite being named, for the umpteenth year  in a row, as the absolute cheapest Scrooge in regards to personal charity, can be portrayed as kinder and more socially responsible, the lack of giving merely a measure of Quebec's different path, where in consideration of the higher taxes paid by Quebec taxpayers, the government is charged with the task of helping those in need, rather than the public.
For these self-deniers, the economy isn't great, but no worse than elsewhere and the debt as well as the deficit, well under control, both exaggerated by enemies of the state, just ask Jacques Parizeau, who gave us an outstanding lesson in spin..

It is a place where immigrants are expressly blamed for not assimilating and for not finding jobs in sufficient numbers and where Quebec society, described as kind and open to foreigners, abused for its hospitality.........Yikes!  

At any rate, rather then make some fearless predictions for 2014, let me just make a few observations about events to unfold.

A 2014 provincial election
Almost a certainty, because two out of the three major political parties want it.
The PQ is keen to roll the dice over the Charter of Values issue, there's only so long that the pot can be kept boiling.
While the chance of a majority PQ government is slim, for Pauline, another minority government is acceptable, buying her another two years in power, something she can certainly live with.
And so to allow a watered-down Charter of Values law to pass, with enough amendments to satisfy the CAQ and buy its support, doesn't make sense to the PQ on any level.
With the charter issue safely put to bed, the PQ will have played the only trump card they possess and with that, the public debate would return to the economy and the deficit, a suicide debate that would only lead to ignominious defeat at the polls.

The economy
No rosy forecast here, but not a reach as a prediction.
The PQ will continue to offer subsidies for companies to invest here, giving the self-delusionists the appearance that jobs are being created and that the PQ is working hard on the economic front.
In fact, if one does the sums correctly, the entire Quebec deficit can be blamed on these subsidies which takes billions and billions of dollars out of the public purse each year.
Quebec spends about six times as much as Ontario (per capita) on buying and preserving jobs through these dubious programs.
A good example of this perverse interference of the free market system, is the entire Montreal based video game industry, a creation of public money, the gift that keeps giving this industry life and it's raison d'etre to locate in Montreal.
As for these subsides, have you noticed that they are directed almost exclusively at American and European concerns?
Is it because the PQ is leery of offering Canadian companies a shot at these programs or is it because Canadian companies are just too fed up or fearful in invest in Quebec?

The Deficit
Another $2-5 billion for sure, and this with increased payments from Ottawa for equalization. The economy will continue to weaken as Hydro-Quebec stumbles over low international electricity prices as well as reduced activity in resource based industries.
The housing market is receding and private investment drying up. Quebec's economy is growing half as fast as Canada's and as long as the PQ remains in power, the future cannot be rosy.

Justice
The Charbonneau Commission will roll on but with diminishing returns. The promised and highly anticipated appearance of the keystone player in all this, Tony Accurso, will likely not happen as he uses the courts as a delaying tactic to avoid testifying.
Speaking of the courts, I'd implore readers to pay attention to the debacle that our criminal justice system has become.
Of all those lawyers, politicians, businessmen and professionals arrested and charged with corruption in 2013, not one will actually have a trial where they plead innocent, in 2014.
That is how slow our criminal justice system has become and how inherently vulnerable to interminable delaying tactics.
Big shots can use high priced legal talent to draw out proceedings with agonizing delays and one should note the marked difference between the Canadian and American justice system, where in the latter, you can only do so much to delay the inevitable.
From the time Conrad Black was first charged with fraud in the United States to the time he was convicted and sent to jail was about a year and a half, this despite all his legal manoeuvring.
Compare that to Garth Drabinsky of Livenet who was charged with fraud in Ontario in 2002 and did not go to jail for another seven years and that was in Ontario where trials are speedy compared to Quebec.

While all of Quebec celebrated over the David versus Goliath Supreme Court victory of Claude Robinson over Cinar in a case of plagiarism, the eighteen year long battle resulting in the long anticipated win, can best be described as a Pyrrhic Victory.
It remains to be seen if the author can get any of the $4 million award as Cinar is bankrupt and the other defenders spread across Europe.
I've already described, in a previous piece, how ridiculous and futile it is in Canada to sue over these types of issues, as is the idiotic and futile case of André Boisclair.

So if Quebecers are anxious to see these criminals finally face justice, they will need a bucket load of patience, because in Canada and particularly Quebec, the wheels of justice grind slowly.

I'd like to close by naming my biggest villain of the year and I invite you to use the comment section to name your biggest villain of 2013.

Stephen Harper?...Pauline Marois?...Tony Accurso?....Mike Duffy?.....Arthur Porter?.....Gilles Vaillancourt?

Let's hear from you.

For me, the biggest villain of 2013 is Michael Applebaum, for two very important reasons. 
First it is always easy to point fingers at someone other than 'your own' but betrayal from within one's community is all the more painful.
It is true that what Applebaum is charged with, accepting bribes of $50k or so, is rather small potatoes or chump change when compared to the alleged systemic looting of Laval by ex-mayor Gilles Vaillancourt, but for me, Applebaum was the bigger villain.

Applebaum had the interminable chutzpah to get himself appointed mayor of Montreal on an anti-corruption platform, only to be charged with accepting bribes in relation permits and zoning changes. 

The last idiot to try that in Montreal was Benoit Labonte, a mayoral candidate running on an anti-corruption platform, who also suffered a Humpty-Dumpty fall from grace when it was revealed that he was accepting money under the table from the infamous Tony Accurso. Read the story

At any rate, All during the long and not so secret investigation of Applebaum by police, he cynically assured us on several occasions that he wasn't the target but rather just providing information to police, this in an effort to preserve his position should the investigation not have resulted in his arrest.
Talk about brazening it out...

Applebaum humiliated the Anglo community, but particularly Montreal's Jewish community, who were thrilled to have the city's first Jewish mayor and then deeply humiliated by his arrest, which was, to say the least, a powerful deception.

But Applebaum did demonstrate one thing, that corruption in Quebec isn't a French, English or an ethnic thing....it is a Quebec 'thing' that transgresses all lines and showed us that we of different backgrounds and ethnicity can work together in harmony.... at least in the commission of felonious crimes!..

And so in Quebec, it is fair to predict that 2014 will be interesting, but I remain mindful of that old Chinese  proverb, "May you live in interesting times' which is actually a curse.

Merry Christmas and an Awesome New Year!

I'll be back after New Year's and until then I want to thank readers for making this blog a small part of your life.

Without you, this blog would have ended a long time ago...

On a positive note, I'd like to remind those who call me a Francophobe and label this blog as hateful, that nothing could be further than the truth.

I like and admire francophones, their industry, their humour, talent, and their sense of fair play and respect for democracy.

In forty years of travelling this province I have never been insulted over language or race.

We tend to focus on the negative because that's what people want to talk about, but in truth we live in a wonderful environment,  even though talking about the positive interests few.

Here's a couple of videos which will warm your heart and perhaps convince sceptics that most Quebecers are not afraid to embrace the world.

Medical students from University of Sherbrooke proposal for  'sexy' calendar for charity shot down.

ET TU, MARIA?

"Et tu, Brute?"  [(et tooh brooh -tay)]

A Latin sentence meaning “Even you, Brutus?” from the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare. Caesar utters these words as he is being stabbed to death, having recognized his friend Brutus among the assassins. 

For we on the anglophone/federalist/anti side of the Charter of Values debate, the reaction of Maria Mourani in changing sides was a nice boost to the morale, a vindication of the principle that Ethnic Quebecers have nothing to gain and everything to lose from embracing the sovereignty movement or the Charter or Values, for that matter.

While not quite as miraculous as the Conversion of Paul the Apostle, who embraced Jesus after a life of persecuting Christians, the reversal of Mourani was a lot more significant than just one politician, jumping ship to embrace the enemy.

We've had a myriad of federalists who went sovereigntist and vice-versa, including Lucien Bouchard and the newest member of the National Assembly, David Heurtel, who won his seat as a Liberal.

"Heurtel, once an adviser to former Parti Québécois leader Bernard Landry, said his thinking has evolved. He said he opposes the PQ’s Bill 60, a secularism charter that would make a ban on the wearing of religious symbols a condition of employment for Quebec’s 600,000 public sector jobs." Link

But for many of the sovereigntist pur et dur,  the Mourani defection is a bitter pill to swallow, made all the more unpalatable by her contention that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms offers a greater protection to the Quebec heritage than does the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

That contention is what has rendered hardliners livid, as if Stephen Harper suddenly embraced the Communist Manifesto.

For as long as the Canadian Charter has existed, it has for separatists, remained the ultimate symbol of Quebec's betrayal and humiliation at the hands of the devious and scheming Anglos.
The story of the Night of the long Knives has gone down in separatist lore as a turning point, as momentous as the hanging of Louis Real or the razor thin referendum loss in 1995, ascribed to federalist scheming and cheating.

"The new deal was signed by Trudeau and nine of the premiers that morning. Only Lévesque refused to endorse it. Lévesque didn't say anything. He just got up from his chair, spun around, and walked out.
"Behind his Oriental impassivity," Lévesque observed, "One could feel Trudeau literally rejoicing. He had put one over on us."
There are conflicting interpretations of what had happened. Trudeau supporters argued that Lévesque was committed to separation and would not have accepted any agreement to patriate the Constitution.
But Lévesque and his supporters saw the agreement as a betrayal, one in which English politicians had conspired against Quebec. Lévesque left the conference, denouncing the premiers and their role in what would be characterized as "The Night of the Long Knives."" Link

As Jews repeat the story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt each year on the celebration of their Passover holiday, so do Separatists keep alive the saga of their betrayal at the hands of the dastardly English, searing those events into the collective memory, lest that ultimate betrayal be forgotten, remain unresolved or un-avenged.

And so in this context, for Maria Mourani to embrace the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom is just too much to take and as such, just as I promised you, reactions in the separatists blogs and indeed the  mainstream press were dripping with rage.

My favourite reaction comes from Sol Zanetti, the newest leader of the hardline Option National political party, who wrote in the National Post that there should be rules for switching sides.

"Being deeply democratic is to accept this fact. (that people switch sides..ed.) However, this can be done in a noble manner and not so as to feed cynicism.....
.....One may no longer agree they want it (sovereignty..ed), but cannot begin actively fighting against it. A separatist member who changes his mind should have the decency to withdraw completely from partisan politics.... Link

How about a federalist politician who changes sides like Lucien Bouchard, should he too have withdrawn from politics, respecting the federalists he left behind?
Ha!.... that notion is just frustration talking and I must admit to a delicious case of schadenfreude, delighting in the palpable agony that has manifested itself in articles such as Mr. Zanetti's.

Here's a collection of rants and frustrated raves that makes it all more enjoyable.

"By any measure of loyalty, she should have warned me before sending this amalgam of lame and demagogic slander to Le Devoir." The Treason of Maria MAourani{fr}

"We are in mourning for our Bloc member, we mourn our dedicated, committed and intelligent member, Maria Mourani , ."  Lettre à Maria Mourani{fr}.

She publicly crucified the draft charter in the most violent terms, got excluded from the Bloc Quebecois and then took time "reflecting on her future" and returned, stating that the Canadian Charter of Rights is better protection  than the Quebec Charter and at the same time is no longer an independentist, happily throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Link{fr}

"This is a childish betrayal, selfish, irrational and disgusting." Link{fr}

"So Maria Mourani, the new darling of the Federalists is treacherous, one who is willing to do anything to get re-elected." Link{fr}

"It therefore seems paradoxical and incongruous that the member for Ahuntsic quotes a French text from the national anthem in praise of the colonial order of  this anti-Bill 101, Canadian Charter of Rights, deliberately imposed upon Quebecers, together with the adoption of the 1982 Constitution without Quebec's consent - the worst colonialist insult in our recent history. Link{fr}

"She has demonstrated her incoherence and how little it is based on principles, which she changes as it suits her. " Gilles Duceppe{fr} 

Your arguments are worse than your gesture and contemptuous of Quebecers" Bernard Landry{fr}

The reaction by militants isn't surprising, Mourani's reversal is a rather heavy body blow, a warning to other Ethnics that flirting with sovereignty is a dead end, a fact not lost on the movement.

The militants would be advised to take a page from Pauline's playbook and move on quickly, letting the Maria Mourani affair pass into ignominious oblivion.
In other words, the less said about Mourani, the better, and feeding the news cycle, an act of self-humiliation.

Although it makes good political sense to let the matter of Maria Mourani drop, it will not happen.
The rage and sense of betrayal is too intense to be assuaged by time alone and so  the enemies of Mourani will continue to empower her, creating a monster, the very public symbol of the sovereignty movement's inherent rejection of ethnics.

The wishful thinking described by Sol Zanetti in hoping that Mourani would retire from the political scene is perhaps telling.
He understands the clear and present danger Mourani represents.

Mourani is certainly up to the task.
She brooks criticism with aplomb and is composed, unfazed and unbowed in the face of opposition. She is an excellent debater and has shown herself to be media savvy, a formidable political personality who would be a great addition to the Liberal or NDP party.

Indeed the PQ  and the Bloc have created a monster in Maria Mourani and like Dr. Frankenstein, will ultimately pay the price for building her up, when it would have been easier to put a little water in their wine and contain her, as did Quebec Liberal leader, Philippe Couillard, when a caucus member Fatima Houde-Pépin, came out on favour of the Charter publicly.

But the hardliners are enraged and like an angry bull, cannot be stopped, even if the course of action is unwise.


I hate to admit it, but it is fun to watch.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?

French versus English Volume 100

Quebec’s getting more equalization money from Ottawa next year.

Attention Mario Beaulieu !... Add this to your Quebec-bashing report!

"According to federal finance ministry numbers posted online Tuesday, Ontario will receive just under $2 billion from the feds in 2014-15, down from $3.2 billion this year.
Quebec will see its piece of the equalization pie rise to $9.3 billion next year from $7.8 billion in 2013-14.
Equalization payments go to so-called "have not" provinces to ensure that Canadians get access to comparable level of services regardless of where they live in the country.
The Stephen Harper government was not pleased when Ontario, the most populous province in the country, became eligible for equalization payments for the first time in 2009-10.
Quebec's equalization payment next year will be larger than its Canada Health Transfer or its Canada Social Transfer.
Other provinces in line for the payouts are P.E.I. at $360 million, Nova Scotia at $1.6 billion, New Brunswick at $1.7 billion and Manitoba at $1.8 billion.
The remaining provinces are not eligible for equalization." Read more at Sun News

Here are two predictions  cocerning this piece of news;
The Quebec government will not say 'Thank-you, Canada' and
defenders of the Quebec model will remind Canadians that per capita, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI, get more equalization money than Quebec.

Now I'd like to make a point about these transfers from the federal government and Quebec's hypocritical position.

Last Spring, Nicolas Marceau, Quebec's finance minister dredged up the old complaint of the so-called 'fiscal imbalance,' whereby it is claimed that Ottawa takes out too high a proportion of taxes and leaves the provinces (read;Quebec) scrambling to pick up the crumbs.

 "Quebec fears Ottawa is trying to balance its budget on its back and plunge both levels of government in fiscal imbalance....." 
....Mr. Marceau believes that there is a disproportion between the tax revenue of each level of government and services to the population for which it is responsible. "The unilateral decisions taken by the federal government lead us to believe that Ottawa wants to clean up its finances on the backs of the provinces," mentioned the Quebec minister. Link

A decade ago, Quebec was so concerned about the 'problem' that it created a commission to study the so-called 'fiscal imbalance."
Its conclusion was not surprising;

"This situation can be summed up fairly easily: the federal government occupies too must tax room compared to its responsibilities." Link

But what everyone fails to understand is that the fiscal imbalance (if it exists) FAVOURS QUEBEC!!!
Let me explain;
Every time Ottawa takes taxes out of the provinces, it returns the money disproportionately, with Quebec the largest benificiary.

Let's take the equalization program as an example.
The federal government collects $17 billion in taxes across Canada to fund the program. Quebec contributes around 18% of that total, or $3 billion, but takes out 55% or $9.3 billion.
The same goes for programs like Employment Insurance, where Quebec also gets back more than it pays in, by about $1 billion as well.
By the way, Quebec then stupidly complains that the feds are unfairly skimming the surplus from the EI fund, when in fact, any amounts of money they do skim, is returned to Quebec disproportionatly!

It's simple, the more Ottawa taxes all of Canada, the better Quebec makes out, it isn't rocket science.
Quebec contributes about 18% of federal taxes, but receives back about 25% of the benefits.
If Ottawa taxed an extra $10 billion from across Canada, Quebec would contribute  about $1.8 billion, yet would receive about $2.5 billion back.
Complaining about the fiscal imbalance is the very embodiment of  looking a gift horse in the mouth. (à cheval donné, on ne regarde pas la denture)
If Ottawa was to tax less, Quebec would be the biggest loser.

Quebec’s credit rating downgraded to negative from stable  

And the outlook is....."Minable!"

"Fitch Ratings has downgraded its outlook on Quebec’s credit rating to negative from stable.
The agency said on Friday the revision to the long-term rating reflects the decision of the Quebec government to push back its zero-deficit target to fiscal 2016 from 2014.
“The delay is based on slower economic and revenue performance since the fiscal 2014 budget was tabled and the consequent reduction in forecast economic and revenue growth thereafter,” the agency said in a news release.
In reaction to the downgraded outlook, Despicable She pooh-poohed the whole affair as not a big deal.
Journalists reported that Fitch was actually on the verge of downgrading its rating of Quebec, instead of just the outlook and it took an intervention by the PQ with Fitch to avoid that calamity.
Nothing is known about what the PQ promised behind closed doors.

In a further interview Pauline then said that the downgrade was the fault of the previous Liberal government.
Hmmm, wonder what she will say next year, when she blows the budget again?

...meanwhile  Canadian Business reported;

"Looking for work? You're in luck; employers seem to be in a hiring mood. There were more than half a million-job openings in Canada in November, a 22% jump over the same period last year, according to new data from Workopolis.
The online job site is reporting year-over-year increases in job postings in every employment category and every region of the country, except Quebec where the number of job postings declined 4%."   Link

Pauline in Paris

It was a meeting of the like-minded in Paris as Pauline Marois met with French president Francois

Hollande.
La Pauline can take comfort that she is twice as popular in Quebec as Hollande is in France, although that isn't saying much.
Pauline has an approval rating of 32%, a number Hollande can only dream of. The sad sack French president stands at an approval rating of just 15%, which has to be the lowest approval rating for any  leader in the developed world.

Hollande and Marois struck it off so well that La Pauline actually referred to the French president by his first name in public, a diplomatic gaffe that he seemed to forgive.

Mr. Hollande gave open support for Quebec's Charter of Values, secure in the knowledge that it was inspired to a great extent by French legislation limiting religious freedoms in France.

Perhaps in private he told Marois that after the Quebec legislation is passed, the province could expect to enjoy the same wonderful race relations as exist in France.

Feeling particularly chummy, Marois took advantage of their mutual admiration, by asking for a favour.
She asked the French president to give Quebec its own seat at the climate conference to be held in Paris in 2015.
She told Hollande that it would be greatly appreciated because Quebec has a different position on climate change as compared to Canada.

Maria Mourani stabs sovereignty movement in the back

Maria Mourani accepts separatist award from smiling Mario Beaulieu....this photo from her personal website pulled today!  I've got two words for Ms. Mourani......"STATUS UPDATE"

It's a long road from being named Patriot of the Year by the separatist Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste in 2012, to becoming a declared federalist, one who publicly denounces the sovereignty movement and vaunts the advantages of Canada.

"Maria Mourani, former Bloc Québécois MP who quit the party after a disagreement over Quebec’s proposed secularism charter says she’s no longer a sovereigntist.

Maria Mourani made the announcement in an open letter, where she writes that she’s leaving the “independentist” movement because it has changed for the worse.

She writes that she now believes federalism is the best way to defend minority rights.

Mourani says she’s remaining as an independent MP and won’t join a new political party for now." Link

Mouraini was particularly stinging in an open letter in which she embraced Canadian federalism and trashed the PQ and Quebec's Charter of Rights.

She dumped sovereignty after a long career as a useful idiot, a rare ethnic who supported Quebec indenedance.
Here's a small translation of part of  the open letter she penned.;

"Canada, the best defense for our Quebec identity
"The ease with which the Charter of Rights and Freedoms of Quebec may be modified or terminated, convinced me of the relevance of the Canadian federal system. I came to the conclusion that my membership in Canada, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, better protects the Quebec identity of all citizens and all citizens of Quebec. I'm no longer an independantist. "

The pill is particularly bitter for the PQ and hard line sovereigntists like Mario Beaulieu, head of the SSJB who couldn't hide his disappointment in saying;

"She won the prize for her past actions, but to claim that the Canadian Charter protects the Quebec identity, we would like to know where and how," said Beaulieu.

"The Charter was used to defeat Bill 101, promoting multiculturalism an attempt to drown the Quebec identity. It's really disappointing from Maria Mourani, "said he added Link{fr}

Her about face on sovereignty is a real disaster for the PQ and separatist insiders must be fretting mightily. Her defection to the federalist cause is a clear signal to ethnics that they have no role to play in the sovereignty movement and if she chooses to become a militant spokesperson, she will no doubt remain a festering open sore that threatens to become a gangrenous infection.

Emotional  denunciations from separatists are pouring in at the moment, but after some time for considered reflection, sovereigntists against the charter (yes, there are many) will be emboldened and openly question the Marois' and the PQ's policy of alienation.

One last note on the subject.
The whole Mourani affair is a lesson in political amateurism.
I don't want to overly dump on Daniel Paillé, the ex-leader of the Bloc who resigned over health issues, but truth be told, it was he who brought on all this misery to the sovereignty movement by kicking  Mouraini out of the PQ caucus in a fit of pique.
At the time, the Bloc hadn't even pronounced or taken a position on the Charter and how much better would it have been to allow a little dissent.
Compare Paillé's handling of Mouraini with that of Philippe Couillard's handling of Fatima Houda-Pepin, who like Mourani broke ranks with the Quebec Liberal party over the Charter. Instead of kicking her out of the caucus, the Liberal leader met her half way and kept the disagreement from causing extensive damage.
You may want to call Couillard a flip-flopper on the issue of the Charter, but he's doing the best he can to take away the PQ's only election issue.
It isn't pretty, but that is politics. Those who say Couillard isn't leadership material are either his enemies or just don't understand the art of politics, like Daniel Paillé, who by the way, at his press conference announcing his decision to resign, looked about as healthy as did Jack Layton did at his last press conference.

OQLF Creole-gate affair proves that a leopard can't change its spots.

As you've no doubt heard the OQLF has once again made fools of themselves by intervening in  affairs that they by law and regulation have no right to do.
Another infamous anonymous complaint led to the OQLF demanding that two Creole-speaking Haitins at work in a hospital address each other in French , even when speaking in private.
Listen to a sad interview  by Barry Morgan of Montreal radio station CJAD with an OQLF spokesperson

The hospital wasn't amused with the complaint and went public with the issue to humiliate the OQLF.
Mission accomplished.
Once again the OQLF displays its uncontrollable obsession with eliminating English from the workplace, legally or illegally.
While the spokesman claimed innocently that the OQLF was just investigating and that there was no disposition of the affair, the truth is that in sending a letter warning the hospital that it faces a $20,000 fine was just a plain old-fashioned case of extra-judicial intimidation.

At any rate, the hospital over-reacted. They could have safely told the OQLF to stuff it, because unless the OQLF was willing to reveal the identity of the anonymous complainer, there  is no case.

Let me explain....
The OQLF can follow-up on an anonymous complaint when it is about a sign, website or advertising material. They just need to verify the actual material themselves and the complainer's name is of no import.
But when the anonymous person complains about a scene that he witnessed and one that the OQLF cannot verify in any way, shape, or form, no reasonable investigation can take place if the alleged guilt institution is deprived of the abilty to make an independent determination by confronting the accuser and the veracity of the complaint.
The OQLF would be laughed out of court if they pursued a case based on a complaint by an anonymous witness, who they will not identify or present in court.
In order to be more politic, the hospital should have  just have written to the OQLF demanding to know when and where the incident happened and in front of whom. Otherwise, they could not make any determination.
The OQLF, refusing to reveal its source would abandon its case quickly.


Let me add a contrasting footnote to the story .
In Toronto a restaurant, the Papillon on the Park, (which incidentally is Quebec-owned) was held liable  by the Ontario Human Rights Commission to pay three employees $100,000 in damages for abusive practices;
The allegations;

• A cook  was forced to taste a dish containing pork, contrary to his religious beliefs
• An employee was forced to work on the day of Eid al-Fitr
• A Complainant was treated as "crazy" because he refused to eat a meat pie during the Ramadan fast
• An Employee was forced to speak English rather than Bengali in the kitchen
• A complainant was threatened to be replaced by white employees

In Quebec, the Charter of Secularism would deem refusing to taste pork an unreasonable accommodation because it is part of the job and asking for a day off for a religious, but non provincial holiday, also an unreasonable accommodation.

And of course the Pièce de résistance, being fined for forcing employees to speak a common language.

Which side of the Quebec/Ontario border is the Twilight Zone?

Read the story in English or en français

Between a rock and a French place

In light of the Supreme Court's rejection of the Harper paln to install a single national regulatory agency to regulate all of Canada's stock market, the feds have thrown the language issue back into Quebec's court as it pertains to the issue of French translations of prospecti (the formal legal document, which provides details about an investment offering for sale.) 
In the past many companies provided brief summaires in French based on the more complete English version, something that the organization that does the translations objects to. They appealed to the PQ government to make complete translations mandatory, but the PQ government is stalling.

The reason  that  the PQ is balking on supporting the translators is because it is faced with a bitter dose of reality.
Over the last three years over 1200 issues weren't translated into French at all, with companies telling unilingual francophone investors to lump it or leave it.
But banning these issues from being sold in Quebec is not the same as banning English toys like Buzz Lightyear. Telling brokers that they can't sell issues that don't provide a French language prospectus would penalize Quebec investors adversely. It would also lead to Quebec investors moving their brokerage account to Toronto or Ottawa, after all it's all done online anyway.

So the Quebec government is in a fine language pickle.
Imposing the language law on Quebec brokers will do more harm than good and so in the spirit of cooperation the Finance Minister's department is talking 'compromise'.
Read a detailed story in French

Really?.....

France is actually looking to Quebec for advice in how to combat its high-school drop-out rate; Link{fr}

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The Quebec government is advertising for university students in France in order to fill empty classrooms.
One of the benefits, according to the government is "an interactive Anglo-Saxon experience" Link{fr}

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After the PQ came to power a very good friend of Pauline Marois and hubby Claude Blanchet, Jean-Yves Duthel, was given a $90,000 for a one-year contract to represent Investissement Québec, in Germany, a kissoff job from the boss.

But before he took up the position the office of the  Directeur général des élections announced that it
was going to charge Duthel over an alleged illegal $500 campaign contribution.

And so the government decided that Mr. Dutel wasn't apt to take the job, to which Duthel took exception and threatened to sue.
And so, the government paid him $50,000 to end the contract.
Mr. Duthel never worked a day.   Not kidding. Link{fr}

By the way, Mr. Duthel is Pauline Marois' biographer.

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 I've written before on how Quebecers are Canada's cheapskates when it comes to donations.

A new study confirms that this year once again, for the 15th year in a row, Quebec has maintained its miserly position.

Quebecers give on average  about $615 to charity as compared to Canada which gives more than double that amount. Link{fr}

I daresay that the average would plummet if the donations from the very engaged Quebec Anglophones and particularly the Quebec Jewish community, were removed from the calculations.

The Quebec Jewish community raises almost as much money for Jewish charities as does all of Centraide and Jews generously contribute outside their community as well.

At any rate, a TV panel led by the esteemed Richard Martineau explained away the anomaly by claiming that Quebecers are certainly as generous as other Canadians, its just that they are taxed heavily and have mandated the government to donate for them. Ha!!!

What a load of crap.

Put aside the donation question and I'd like the panel to explain why Quebecers are also in last place in donating their time to charitable organizations.

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